The idea of machines that can build even better machines sounds like sci-fi, but the concept is becoming a reality as companies like Cadence tap into generative AI to design and validate next-gen processors that also use AI.

In the early days of integrated circuits, chips were designed by hand. In the more than half a century since then, semiconductors have grown so complex and their physical features so small that it's only possible to design chips using other chips. Cadence is one of several electronic design automation (EDA) vendors building software for this purpose.

Even with this software, the process of designing chips remains time-consuming and error-prone. But with the rise of generative AI, Cadence and others have begun exploring new ways to automate these processes.

Scientists have created a wearable sensor that attaches to your underwear and tracks your gut bacteria in real time by measuring the hydrogen gas in your flatulence. And no, that’s not a setup for a joke.

Researchers at the University of Maryland developed the device to solve a problem that has plagued microbiome research for years: how to actually monitor what gut bacteria are doing hour by hour, not just which species are living in there. The answer, it turns out, involves a tiny sensor clipped near your bottom that passively records data while you go about your day.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.nz/post/34197247

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42946351

So-called doll mummies create mainland market worth US$1.4 billion; say toy companions of ‘emotional support’; even ‘smell’ like their owners.

A new “parenting” trend in China is seeing young women embrace “painless motherhood” by raising cotton dolls as their own children.

A Russian magazine editor claims his publisher demanded he censor a book that mentions homosexuality in animals because it violates the country’s “LGBT propaganda” law.

Viktor Kovylin, editor of the scientific journal Batrachospermum, wrote on Telegram that his publisher told him the descriptions of same-sex behavior in a book on animal sexual behavior were against the law because they did not express “disgust or criticism” for the acts.

“Apparently, neutral scientific descriptions of homosexual behavior, without disgust or criticism, now fall under the category of propaganda for non-traditional relationships!” Kovylin wrote on Telegram, according to a translation.

Self-professed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate believes reading is for people with “slow brains,” according to a recent resurfaced clip of him on X. In the video, Tate is seen bragging that his brain is too advanced for reading and that he’d rather be in constant chaos.

“I’m too smart to read. I know you’re sitting there going ‘smart people read’... no. I need action. I need constant chaos in my life to feel content. I need to be driving a supercar and f—ing fighting, f—ing a bunch of hoes and champagne… going crazy.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42859733

Murdoch tabloid leads charge as big freeze persists – could the mayor please do something about the weather?

It snowed two weeks ago in New York. Since then, the temperature has barely risen above freezing – a temperature science naturally dictates is necessary to melt snow and ice.

But science isn’t enough for some US political critics, however, who have instead blamed Zohran Mamdani, New York’s new socialist mayor, for the snow not having melted and still clogging up some of the city’s streets.

The New York Post, the rightwing tabloid and a frequent Mamdani critic, has led the charge. This week the newspaper claimed that “slushy streets” were “ruining travel for everyone”.

"For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class," Hegseth said. "Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks."

In a separate post on X, Hegseth wrote, "Harvard is woke; The War Department is not."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42806120

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42826801

https://archive.ph/BAKTR

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/cars/p/506854/gmc-made-a-motorhome-that-pumped-sewage-through-its-exhaust-on-purpose

The 1973 GMC Motorhome was—and still is—a sight on the road today. This groundbreaking RV was just as interesting as its sleek body, with a V8 powering the front wheels and a spectacularly 1970s interior. And because it was the early ’70s, we had a different notion of what was okay to spray into the atmosphere as you drive. Like sewage, which an obscure option allowed this GMC to do.

One of the options available for the GMC Motorhome was a system called Thermasan, which promised to improve on one of the worst parts of RV ownership: Black water. That’s a euphemism for the raw sewage, which accumulates in an onboard tank and has to be disposed of at dumping stations. It’s as gross as it sounds, and it’s why someone at RV accessory manufacturer Thetford Corporation thought there had to be a better way. And so, the Thermasan was born.

The premise of the Thermasan “waste destruction system” was simple: Dump black water through the hot exhaust to sanitize and dispose of it. According to a maintenance manual for the 1973 model, this was done using a wiper motor-powered pump connecting the black water tank to the exhaust, where it was plumbed in just upstream of the muffler. A screen prevented solid waste from entering and clogging the system, which would’ve been hellacious to fix. Amusingly, Thetford called the exit an “ejection orifice.” The jokes write themselves.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42730791

https://archive.ph/iAejM